Be careful of the early symptoms of colon cancer!

Colon tumor is currently the most common malignant tumor of colorectal cancer. The incidence rate in my country has been increasing year by year. The cause is largely due to eating habits and is also related to genetics. It is more common in men than in women. People who smoke, drink, socialize and stay up late are more likely to develop the disease than those who lead a regular life. It is also partly related to chronic inflammatory stimulation. Therefore, once enteritis occurs, it must be actively and thoroughly treated to prevent the possibility of cancer.

Every year, there are 930,000 new cases of colorectal cancer in the world, and 130,000 to 160,000 new cases in my country. The incidence of colorectal cancer is second only to gastric cancer among digestive tract tumors. The current prevalence of colorectal cancer in my country is as high as 46.8/100,000. Colorectal cancer has become one of the three major cancers in China, and its incidence is spiraling at a rate of 4.2%, far exceeding the international level of 2%. There is another obvious feature of colorectal cancer in my country: the age of onset is mostly between 40 and 60 years old, with an average age of 48.3 years old, which is 10-15 years earlier than that of Westerners. Young patients are more common in my country than in Europe and the United States, and colorectal cancer patients under 30 years old are not uncommon.

Severity of colon tumors

The quality of life after colorectal cancer surgery is significantly reduced, including: decreased sexual function and excretion function, increased psychological disorders, and reduced social activities; colorectal cancer is so common, but most patients are already in the late stage when they are discovered, and have lost the best time for treatment, resulting in a very low 5-year survival rate after colorectal cancer patients are diagnosed; in my country, 1 person dies from colorectal cancer every 5 minutes.

Early detection of colon cancer can prevent and treat

Colorectal cancer is not unpreventable. In fact, colorectal cancer is the disease that is easiest to self-screen for, and it is also the most curable disease if detected early. Colorectal cancer grows very slowly and has a long incubation period. 93% of colorectal cancers originate from adenomas (a precancerous lesion), and it takes 5 to 7 years for adenoma to develop into cancer. US studies have shown that annual fecal occult blood testing can reduce the mortality rate from colorectal cancer by 33%.

Although colorectal cancer is preventable and curable, in my country, more than 80% of patients have already developed to the middle or late stages when diagnosed, and the early diagnosis rate is only 10-15%. Domestic surveys show that the survival rate after surgery for early colorectal cancer is over 90-95%, while for late-stage cancer it is only 5%.

Bowel cancer symptoms

The main clinical features of early colorectal cancer are bloody stools and changes in bowel habits. When the cancer is limited to the rectal mucosa, bloody stools are the only early symptom accounting for 85%. Unfortunately, it is often not taken seriously by patients. During the rectal examination, a lump can be felt in most cases. In addition to the common systemic symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, anemia, etc., patients with middle and late stage intestinal cancer also have local irritation symptoms of the cancer such as increased frequency of bowel movements, incomplete bowel movements, frequent urge to defecate, tenesmus, etc. The growth of the tumor can cause narrowing of the intestinal lumen and signs of intestinal obstruction.

In the late stage, colorectal cancer often invades surrounding tissues and organs, such as the bladder and prostate, causing frequent urination, urgency and difficulty urinating. It invades the presacral plexus, causing sacral and lumbar pain. Rectal cancer can also metastasize to the liver, causing symptoms such as liver enlargement, ascites, jaundice, and even cachexia.

Colon tumors are easily misdiagnosed. In the early stages, when the frequency of bowel movements increases and the stool contains mucus, pus and blood, it is easy to misdiagnose as diseases such as dysentery, enteritis or hemorrhoids, thus losing the opportunity for early radical treatment and resection.